1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to surgical devices. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to surgical adapters and/or adapter assemblies for use between and for interconnecting a powered, rotating and/or articulating surgical device or handle assembly and an end effector for clamping, cutting and/or stapling tissue.
2. Background of Related Art
One type of surgical device is a linear clamping, cutting and stapling device. Such a device may be employed in a surgical procedure to resect a cancerous or anomalous tissue from a gastro-intestinal tract. Conventional linear clamping, cutting and stapling instruments include a pistol grip-styled structure having an elongated shaft and distal portion. The distal portion includes a pair of scissors-styled gripping elements, which clamp the open ends of the colon closed. In this device, one of the two scissors-styled gripping elements, such as the anvil portion, moves or pivots relative to the overall structure, whereas the other gripping element remains fixed relative to the overall structure. The actuation of this scissoring device (the pivoting of the anvil portion) is controlled by a grip trigger maintained in the handle.
In addition to the scissoring device, the distal portion also includes a stapling mechanism. The fixed gripping element of the scissoring mechanism includes a staple cartridge receiving region and a mechanism for driving the staples up through the clamped end of the tissue against the anvil portion, thereby sealing the previously opened end. The scissoring elements may be integrally formed with the shaft or may be detachable such that various scissoring and stapling elements may be interchangeable.
A number of surgical device manufacturers have developed product lines with proprietary powered drive systems for operating and/or manipulating the surgical device. In many instances the surgical devices include a powered handle assembly, which is reusable, and a disposable end effector or the like that is selectively connected to the powered handle assembly prior to use and then disconnected from the end effector following use in order to be disposed of or in some instances sterilized for re-use.
Many of the existing end effectors for use with many of the existing powered surgical devices and/or handle assemblies are driven by a linear force. For examples, end effectors for performing endo-gastrointestinal anastomosis procedures, end-to-end anastomosis procedures and transverse anastomosis procedures, each typically require a linear driving force in order to be operated. As such, these end effectors are not compatible with surgical devices and/or handle assemblies that use a rotary motion to deliver power or the like.
In order to make the linear driven end effectors compatible with powered surgical devices and/or handle assemblies that use a rotary motion to deliver power, a need exists for adapters and/or adapter assemblies to interface between and interconnect the linear driven end effectors with the powered rotary driven surgical devices and/or handle assemblies.
These adapters and/or adapter assemblies must be able to convert rotation of a rotatable drive screw to linear motion of a drive rod or the like. Such force conversion creates a relatively high degree of strain on the system at the force conversion interface. Additionally, these adapters and/or adapter assemblies must undergo several autoclaving cycles without deterioration of the system at the force conversion interface.
Accordingly, a need exists for adapters and/or adapter assemblies constructed from materials that are biocompatible, which are resistant to corrosion from steam and cleaning agents, and which have a relatively high fatigue life-cycle.